May 14, 2012
jmunney
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television
Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live Season 37, SNL, SNL Season 37, Usher, Will Ferrell
Cold Opening – Biden’s Room
Biden’s presence in political sketches the past few seasons has generally worked in SNL‘s favor, as he brings a silly energy that tends to mix up the staid formula that has set in for most recent political sketches. Biden’s starring role – along with Will’s goofy-at-a-Hall-of-Fame-level Dubya – set the tone for an episode that was at its best when it was seriously silly. B+
Will Ferrell’s Monologue
The cue card gag was on a par with Steve Martin saying, “Line?” at the end of the Not Gonna Phone It In Tonight cold open. Will Ferrell and Mom = Will Ferrell and emotions, which is always a formula for at least some success. B
One-a-Day Extra Strength Nasaflu
Well, one doesn’t really need any reason to listen to Will Ferrell scream-sneeze, but it would have been nice to have more of a sketch built around it. B
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May 7, 2012
jmunney
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television
Eli Manning, Rihanna, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live Season 37, SNL, SNL Season 37
Cold Opening – Fox and Friends
“Baseball is a land sport” was one of the corrections – I wonder what they claimed otherwise. As usual, the corrections were the best part, and they can only work in an age when pausing is easy. The bits with Bobby as Brian Kilmeade were also amusing, including the lines about pandas. B
Eli Manning’s Monologue
Monologues have gone to the well of “host claims to know New York, but gets it all wrong” plenty of times before, but they usually work, so that’s fine. I thought I fully knew where this was going at first, but there were some surprises, and Eli was sufficient. B
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April 15, 2012
jmunney
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television
Gotye, Josh Brolin, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live Season 37, SNL, SNL Season 37, The Californians
We need beans, like, yesterday.
Republican Candidates at a Bar
It felt like this sketch could have been written months ago, and SNL was just waiting for everyone besides Romney to drop out before airing it. Humorously keen observations were made about each candidate. The digs at Rick Perry’s propensity for gaffes in this sketch were the best digs at him all season. B+
Josh Brolin’s Monologue
It was nice to see that Josh Brolin was comfortable enough to get through his monologue (mostly) by himself, despite not having much material. I got that he only said one word as Tommy Lee Jones because Tommy Lee isn’t a big talker, but it would have been nice to hear more of that impression, because based on the MIB3 trailer, he has his cadence down well. B-
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April 8, 2012
jmunney
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television
One Direction, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live Season 37, SNL, SNL Season 37, Sofia Vergara
eBay of Pigs!
Cold Opening – Road to the White House
The best part of all those cookie-cutter Mitt Romney sketches from this season has been Mitt attempting to sound like an actual human with actual human interests, so a compilation of those bits was an apt choice. B
Sofia Vergara’s Monologue
Rather lightweight, but the joke about how Hispanic people age fast initially and then stop aging completely was funny, despite being based on a very small portion of reality. B
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March 13, 2012
jmunney
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television
Coolio, Coolio 1963-3162, Jonah Hill, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live Season 37, SNL, SNL Season 37, The Shins
Coolio: 1963-3162
Cold Opening – The Rush Limbaugh Show
The gag got old, but there was enough variety such that the laughs had no definitive endpoint. Taran’s Rush was solid; at first, I figured that Bobby would be playing him, and then for about a minute or so, I thought it was Jason. So what I’m saying is, Taran did a good job of playing what I imagine Jason Sudeikis playing Rush Limbaugh would be like. B
Jonah Hill’s Monologue
Jonah does a good job playing pompous. Now that he’s lost weight, maybe he should get fewer lovable schlub roles and more entitled jerks. B
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